


The Family

by LordOnisyr



Category: JUDGE EYES: 死神の遺言 | Judgment, 龍が如く | Ryuu ga Gotoku | Yakuza (Video Games)
Genre: Backstory, Canon-Typical Violence, Coming of Age, Found Family, Gen, Pre-Canon, Yakuza, Yakuza Secret Santa 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:48:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21923917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LordOnisyr/pseuds/LordOnisyr
Summary: “There's gonna be a moment, kid, when you're gonna be ready to die for every guy in here,” he remembered Kaito-no-aniki saying after their first visit to the family office. “You're gonna find out these guys are your blood; not your DNA, but something much stronger.”Six months in the Matsugane Family and teenage pageboy Higashi realizes how far he would be willing to go for his boss and his new brothers after the Mad Dog of Shimano crashes into their office.For Yakuza Secret Santa 2019
Comments: 4
Kudos: 36





	The Family

**Author's Note:**

> This is my Secret Santa for Zen_Monk. The request included a Higashi back story with the themes of found family and from the gutter. Thinking on this prompt I remembered a plot bunny I had involving Hamura and the Matsugane Family having a run in with Majima so the two just melded. I was so happy to write the Judgement boys and this was a great exercise in getting to know Higashi a bit better.
> 
> Just a warning: there's some canon typical violence and references to child neglect, hard drug use, and minors exposed to perilous situations. 
> 
> Happy Holidays, Zen_Monk! I hope you like your gift!

He looked up for a moment and there was Matsugane-san looming over him. Higashi dropped his whole hand of cards and bolted up to a stand, he could hear a few of the cards flutter in the air and clip the side of the table. He bowed deeply; pageboys were supposed to be extra respectful to the boss, or so he was told.

“Boss!” Higashi greeted in an official-sounding yelp.

A few guys around him were chuckling, though the sight of the boss smiling warmly was the thing that sent his pulse rate down a bit. 

“Evening, Higashi-kun, haven't seen you around in a while,” Matsugane-san greeted.

“Uh...well...I was supposed to meet Hamura-no-aniki here for a project,” Higashi stuttered, feeling the sweat pouring down the back of his gray hoodie. “But...I guess he's not here yet so I figured I'd...”

“You figured you'd just keep occupied with your fellows until Lieutenant Hamura got here, right.”

“Yeah...that's the gist of it...b-boss.”

Matsugane nodded and smiled in return. “Sorry haven't seen him, was wondering about that too. Guess he got held up with something. I've got some stuff you can do in the meantime. Genda-sensei's waiting for some documents, how about you fax those over to his office.”

Higashi nodded and bowed. “Yes sir, I'll fax those right over. Thank you, sir.”

“You used the fax machine before?” Higashi paused and looked down. Matsugane motioned to the other guy Higashi was playing cards with, Mogi. “Show him how to fax something over, it'll be good for him to know.”

Mogi-no-aniki got up from his chair and bowed. “Sure thing, boss.”

Matsugane nodded in response. “I'll let you know when Hamura gets back so you can get to whatever he was having you work on.”

Higashi and Mogi bowed again, then Mogi lightly slapped Higashi's shoulder. “Let's show you how that bucket of bolts works.”

“Yeah, sure,” Higashi responded.

Higashi followed Mogi to the other side of the office to the huge copy machine. He showed him where the documents for the family's attorney were kept and showed him each step of sending a fax: putting on the cover sheet, placing everything on the glass, dialing the number on the green keypad, waiting for some rings and beeps, pressing the start button, then checking to make sure the system sent it. Higashi found he was relaxing through this process, it was like a classmate teaching him how to connect to the school internet only this was a yakuza office. 

Everyone talked about how awful the yakuza was, anyone found out Higashi was involved with this group would always give him stiff lectures on what a horrible mistake he was making. “You're just a kid, get out while you can!” “Don't throw your life away like this!” “You stay with this group you will end up dead or in jail in a year, guaranteed.” Then there were those who said things like “Look it's a new bitch,” or “Ready to get eaten, baby boy?” Higashi sometimes asked himself why he was involved with these guys, why he wasn't he following his teachers' advice to stay in school and bust his ass to try to get a university scholarship or something. There was always an answer for this, the answer that kept him in this office: what the hell else was there?

He did okay in school, but decent grades or preparing for exam after exam couldn't feed him or pay the bills. The only one who could do any of that for him was himself. It was just him in this tiny roach infested apartment in the Champion District. He tried doing the student routine between working odd jobs and throwing off suspicion that he was a minor living on his own. 

Higashi never had a dad, he had a mom when he was a little kid but he never remembered her being around much. When she was there it was for a few minutes at a time and she reeked of booze. The neighbors occasionally checked in on him before they went away without a word. Then mom stopped showing at home, he was in elementary school when he noticed he hadn't seen her in weeks. He didn't really miss her, he was happier on his own anyway. 

Food was whatever he could buy with whatever odd jobs he had: kids made great barkers and messenger boys. More often than not he was swiping whatever he could find from restaurant dumpsters and occasionally getting the five-finger discount at convenience stores. He always made up a story about his “family” anytime anyone asked, especially adults. One sniff of something off could have sent him into foster care and he heard enough horror stories about that bullshit. Higashi did what he could to stay alive and off everyone's radars. Everyone in school knew him as the quiet, nerdy kid with huge glasses and his nose in a manga. Yes he got hammered on by bullies, but he was either too stupid or too numb to care about these losers. He took his punches and went on with his life, eventually he attempted fighting back a few more times but it still resulted in him getting pummeled. At least he tried or something like that. 

Higashi came across the Matsugane Family almost by accident. A young punk named Kaito hired him to do a messenger job, deliver an envelope to some hostess. Kaito and some of his friends hired him for a few more jobs, wasn't hard to figure out these guys were yakuza. Kaito was pretty much a kid himself and already had stitches across his left brow. Yakuza tended to creep him out, but growing up in Kamurocho meant growing up around the Tojo Clan. They were everywhere, by the time Higashi was in third grade he could tell the different clan pins apart and how high ranked someone was by their clothes and jewelry. 

Working with Kaito and his buddies became a regular thing after a while. Next thing he knew he was getting a recruitment speech about joining the Matsugane Family. 

“You're a smart kid and you can keep your mouth shut, ever think of swearing up?” Kaito stated after a job they did on a Friday night. “We know you could use the money, ya look like a goddamn skeleton.”

Joining up with them was a prospect that seemed both natural and nuts. Yakuza were scary bastards, why would he put himself with them all the time? Why would he want to try to break in their ranks?   
These were questions he asked himself for a few days maybe, but the answer was clear: what else was there? 

He had to admit it did look pretty tempting. He saw Kaito's flashy shirts and the wads of cash he kept around. The guy just had this swagger, he commanded respect and everyone respected him. Higashi was certainly pulled in, not like he was really liking the guy or anything. It took him a weekend to contemplate the offer, by Monday he went right to one of Kaito's hideouts and said he wanted in. He remembered how Kaito smiled and clapped him on the shoulder, he felt his heart leap a little. 

That was six months ago, Higashi was still at the bottom of the food chain. It was his job to do these errand jobs for his higher ups. Truth be told these guys still scared the crap out of him and a lot of these guys were pretty hardcore. He had to admit a little at a time he was getting a lot more comfortable around them.

“Uh dude, you just entered the wrong number,” Mogi advised.

“Fuck,” Higashi spat, pulling his finger back and feeling his heart pound a little.

“Whatever, it happens,” Mogi dismissed. “Gotta have fat fingers to operate this damn thing. Just do this.”

Mogi pressed a button that looked like a backspace key and erased the numbers leading to the wrong one, then entered the right one. This was the way things tended to work in the Matsugane Family, most were willing to let stuff slide. Of course there were exceptions and there were occasions when screwing something up around certain people resulted in a hail of insults or getting smacked. Higashi naturally wasn't a fan but this actually didn't bother him, which was weird. Maybe he was just a shy guy, the prospect being embarrassed by his usual social awkwardness (especially around this group of new guys) was far more frightening than the prospect of being backhanded or called a “fucking moron.” 

One of those major exceptions wasn't in the office tonight, he was the reason Higashi was faxing over these documents with complicated words he never heard before: Lieutenant Hamura. For some reason Hamura-no-aniki picked Higashi out for a personal project of his and the guy was a massive dick if you didn't get something right. 

Higashi's job was to meet with Hamura and do some errands for these “consultants” he was working with. All of them were civilians, but they were doing a special job for him. Higashi had to go door to door to these shut-in nerds and make deliveries: he would bring packages to them (don't look in them, don't even ask about them, you don't want to know) and bring back little folders or boxes back to Hamura-no-aniki. Sometimes he would have to stop at Pizza La or Smile Burger and get specific orders for them.

Some of these guys seemed like casual office workers in nice clothes and talked like he was entering their office, some were earthy types who liked talking about their new vegan recipe and home compost piles, though most of them were a stoned out mess. Sometimes the door would open and the smell of BO, cigarettes, piss, weed, meth, or whatever the hell else was going on wafted out. Most of these guys took their packages and slammed the door, some of them would invite him in and talk his ear off about video games or what obscure movie they were into. All of them creeped Higashi the hell out, he just wanted to do his job and leave. 

After a while he noticed all of them had lit computer screens or open laptops, usually not a distinctive sight. There was one time he accidentally looked on the screen and saw some kind of command prompt, another time he clearly saw spreadsheets with financial figures. It wasn't long before Higashi speculated that these dudes' main job involved hacking or some kind of shady programming. Why else would Hamura want Higashi to make deliveries and take stuff back? Higashi knew better than to ask or even make any indication he had any idea what was going on. Lieutenant Hamura gives you a job, you're not meant to know the particulars. 

If he showed up at a location late or got the wrong sushi order for one of these “contractors” or accidentally dropped a folder and got it dirty Hamura would let him know. Sometimes he would be nice and passive aggressive about it (“Nice job finally getting this shit done; not like you had a deadline or anything, you little prick”), or he would be more direct (“Wake the fuck up and do you job!”) usually accompanied by a flick to the ear or a finger in the face, then there were times he was a bit more disappointed (“Can't you follow a fucking order, next time I'm beating the shit out of you!”) with a side of a backhand across the cheek or a kick to the knee. Higashi got ready for anything when completing these little jobs, it surprised the hell out of him how he was less scared at the prospect of Hamura punching him than spending more than a few minutes with the boss and hoping he didn't look like an idiot.

The last faxes were sent and Mogi was showing Higashi where to put the file back. 

“That was probably a lot more boring than what Hamura-no-aniki was going to have you do but hey,” Mogi remarked. 

“Nah it's cool, I'm okay with boring,” Higashi replied with a smirk, brushing a random paper scrap off his hoodie. 

“Seriously, where is that prick?” Mogi muttered, trying to stay out of earshot. “He's usually here like clockwork.”

“Um I guess he got caught up in something? Seems like a busy guy obviously.”

“Getting shot or arrested maybe,” another guy, Kageyama, muttered while passing by.

“Dude, don't be creepy,” Mogi sighed.

Higashi kept himself from smirking: was it wrong to hope something happened? He did feel a little bad for thinking that.

The boss was in his room on a private call so the rest of the guys were in chit chat mode. Higashi mostly hung back and listened to whatever stories they were telling of what hostess at what place was really hot or what cops to watch out for. Higashi wasn't really joining in the conversations though he noticed how the guys would look at him while they talked, regarding him like everyone else in the room. It felt nice, it didn't feel like he was just there or butting in, it was like he was part of this. 

“Hey you been to a hostess club, Higashi-kun?” one guy, Takemura asked him.

“Wha?” his eyes snapped up a bit as did his posture. “Um, no actually, but I'm underage and all.”

“Dude I've never been in a joint that carded, no one cares. Just get a fake one if you're paranoid, I can hook you up.”

“True that, and when you get your badge no one's gonna dare ask for your ID,” Kageyama added.  
“And you go to one of the family's clubs and you're drinkin'...”

“BOSS!” a voice cried, running footsteps pounded across the floor. Higashi looked to the side to see a guy in a gray suit and purple shirt, right it was Asahi, burst through the door into the office, face in a look of horror. “Where's the boss? We've got trouble!”

Asahi barely got in the door when five big dudes in everything from suits to sweats strolled in right behind them, all of them with their own smarmy expressions. 

“The fuck is this?” Mogi spat, getting up from the desk he was sitting on to greet the visitors. 

Higashi noted how everyone looked ready to kick some ass at first, but a wave of terrified looks overtook everyone. Higashi felt sick and he could feel the sweat beading up on his back. He took a second to look at one of their suits, the pin on all their lapels made his jaw drop to the floor: Majima Family. He knew the emblem well, it was sign of dudes who were really bad news. These guys were the Shimano Family's personal deep shit squad lead by a total psycho. 

Everyone had two seconds to process what was going on before something...no someone flew through the door and landed hard on the floor like a ragdoll. The poor bastard's gray suit was covered in dirt, the guy managed to turn his head and show a swollen, bleeding face. The guy was barely recognizable, but his slicked back hair and what anyone could make out of his square face sent whispers of “shit,” “no fucking way,” and plain sharp gasps through the room. 

“H-Hamura-no-aniki,” Higashi quietly gasped. 

Higashi stared at Hamura's crumpled body on the floor, then got the sight of a pair of steel tipped black shoes and the cuffs of a pair of black leather pants. He didn't want to look up, he didn't want to confirm who this was. This wasn't happening, there was no way this could be happening. 

“Yooo, Matsugane boys! Your boss around?”

People described his voice as jovial Osaka boy fresh from the nuthouse. He greeted them like a buddy who probably wanted to murder them all. Higashi's numb gaze trailed up to that snakeskin jacket, bare torso with an intricate chest tattoo, neat goatee, and that goddamn eye patch. There was a metal baseball bat slung over his shoulder coated in blood and his mouth was in a pleasant smile. 

Goro Majima...Captain of the Shimano Family, Patriarch Shimano's lead enforcer, the patriarch of a subfamily of homicidal maniacs, and a guy no one wanted to be in the same room with. The Mad Dog of Shimano himself. And here he was in the Matsugane Family office with a pack of goons and Lieutenant Hamura a leaking meat sack on the floor below him. This was bad, this was really fucking bad. 

“Captain Majima.” Higashi heard the boss state behind them. “Just what the hell is the meaning of this?”

Higashi's head whipped around and Matsugane-san was walking toward Majima-san with a severe expression, keeping his gaze on Majima though looking down at Hamura repeatedly. 

“Evenin' Matsugane-san,” Majima greeted, that singsong tone made the hair stand up in the back of Higashi's neck. “Sorry we gotta meet like this, but we caught your little mutt stealin' some food from our fridge and that just ain't right.” One of those silver shoe tips shot forward and disappeared into the back of Hamura's suit, Hamura groaned and shifted forward with the kick. “We found out yer boy had a little cyber ring goin' on, get a buncha hackers to get into bank accounts and shit and skim off the top. Smart stuff, gotta hand it to him. Turns out though his little personal geek squad was dippin' their fingers on some of my boss' business ventures.”

Oh...fuck. Higashi had to keep himself from gagging. All those guys he'd been making deliveries to, if Majima found out he had...oh shit. 

“We were noticin' our coffers getting' a bit lighter than they should be. What your buddy didn't know is we got our own computer dudes on staff, we could look into the problem, find the source, and pay him a little visit. Sorry, Hamura-chan, ya gotta hire guys with bigger balls.” Majima poked the top of Hamura's head with the tip of his baseball bat. “We just needed to hit the little fucker a couple times and he gave ya riiight up.”

Which one was it? Oh shit. One thought kept Higashi from panicking outright: if Majima knew about his role he would probably be a stain on the floor beside Hamura right now. 

Majima-san took a few more steps forward and approached the boss, a few guys around Matsugane closed around him and raised their fists. The boss just put his hand out and motioned for them to back off, which they did though kept glares on Majima. 

“Look, Matsugane-san, we don't really want no trouble,” Majima tried to assure. “The boss and me had a little talk on how to deal with this. We ain't here to start a fight, but this shitsack had to pay for this.” He reached to the floor and grabbed Hamura by the back collar of his suit, pulling him partly up with ease. It made Higashi think of how his neighbor would gently grab her cat by the scruff of the neck to get him to stop scratching the carpet. “That just ain't right and we couldn't pretend nothin' happened. So we had to teach him a lesson, if he ain't learned it then we gotta get meaner and we really don't wanna do that. So I'm gonna leave this with you.” He dropped Hamura, whose face bounced off the floor. Majima took an extra step, fuck he was tall. He leaned his nose in Matsugane's face, the boss just stared back at him with an unchanged expression. “Take care of your mutt, Matsugane-san. You're gettin' a warning, consider it a gift. You and your little bud ain't gettin' another one.”

Higashi took a look around the room, the looks of fear were still there he was seeing more furrowed brows, curled lips, and raised shoulders. He saw a group of guys watching their boss get strongarmed by this asshole and they weren't happy. He saw Matsugane Family men ready to leap in front of their boss. Then there was Matsugane himself: stonefaced, calm, unflinching. The situation was obvious: this was a high ranking yakuza, in the grand scheme of the Tojo Clan the Matsugane Family was shit under the Majima Family's boots. Still the boss wasn't showing any emotion of any kind. Higashi's fear was slowly melting.

“My sincere apologies, Captain Majima,” Matsugane stated in an even tone, offering a bow. “Tell Patriarch Shimano any money he lost will be restored and I will deal with my lieutenant accordingly. You and Shimano-san have my absolute word. There will not be any repeat incidents.”

Majima's threatening expression whipped into a happy grin. “That's what I wanted to hear. I'll be tellin' my boss what ya just said...” his threatening expression returned. “And believe me we're rememberin' everything.” He smiled again and waved. “Night!”

Majima turned around, though gave everyone in the room one final look over. Higashi felt his mouth tighten in a scowl and he glared daggers at him. How dare this piece of shit come into his family's office, shove his nose in his boss' face, and try to bully all of them. That one eye fell right on him and lingered an extra second, Higashi felt nauseous and all his nerves prickled though he kept his scowl. 

“There's gonna be a moment, kid, when you're gonna be ready to die for every guy in here,” he remembered Kaito-no-aniki saying after their first visit to the family office. “You're gonna find out these guys are your blood; not your DNA, but something much stronger.”

Majima gave what looked like half a smirk and looked away, having that gaze off him was like an iron beam was lifted from his shoulders. Majima walked out the door, his guys falling in step behind him with some lingering sneers to the room before they went into the hallway; the last guy slamming the door behind him. 

A bunch of guys rushed to Hamura, Matsugane included. Hamura tried to lift his head as a couple guys gently rolled him over on his back. 

“Call the doctor and get some pillows, no one move him,” Matsugane ordered. He leaned close to Hamura. “Hamura, can you hear me?” 

Hamura's eyes were shifting around, but he fixed his gaze on the boss.

“B-Boss,” he managed to gasp out through a puffy mouth full of blood. “I'm...s-sorry.” He muttered something to Matsugane, his speech was muffled but Higashi was able to make out, “...my pinkie now.”

“I don't want it,” Matsugane stated. “This has been punishment enough.”

The boss' tone pierced Higashi's heart, he sounded disappointed. Even with a bloody, beaten face, Higashi still saw Hamura's features drop. Maybe this was worse punishment than losing a pinkie.

Matsugane looked at the rest of them. “I think all of you should hang out in here for a while, we don't know if Majima or any of the Shimano Family might be outside looking to start something. It's safer in here.”

Everyone nodded with various words of agreement, including Higashi. He felt the urge to keep close to Hamura, though kept a little behind a few guys. He had to admit he felt really bad for the guy, though there was a part of him that was kind of glad to see this. 

He suddenly thought of one person he wanted to hear right now, maybe just to let him know to watch his ass in case he came across the Shimano Family and the Majima Family. No, he wanted to hear his aniki's voice right now. Higashi subtly floated to a quiet corner of the office and got his phone out, dialing Kaito's number. He wondered what he was up to, maybe doing a job, maybe hanging out with that annoying dude Yagami. He really didn't want to bother him, but then this was pretty serious; he needed to hear this. Or maybe Higashi needed to say this even more. 


End file.
